Shooting has restarted in Vancouver on Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus with Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell all replacing Heath Ledger in the cast. Parnassus will stand as Heath Ledger’s final film role.
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The The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus went on hiatus after Ledger’s unexpected death on January 22 and many believed there would be no way to complete the film. The film, however, had just shot weeks of live-action in London and Gilliam was about to embark on several weeks of bluescreen work in Canada when the death occurred. It seems that Ledger actually completed all of his “realistic” scenes in the film and all that was left was the “fantastical” which opened the door to the solution for finishing the film.
The decision to use three separate actors to replace Ledger was done partly due to scheduling issues and was made possible because of the fantastical nature of the story, in which characters pass from contemporary London through a magic mirror into parallel worlds of the imagination. Depp, Farrell and Law will all play physically transformed versions of Ledger’s character when he passes into the other worlds.
In a statement, producers William Vince, Amy Gilliam and Samuel Hadida said: “Since the format of the story allows for the preservation of his entire performance, at no point will Heath’s work be modified or altered through the use of digital technology. Each of the parts played by Johnny, Colin and Jude is representative of the many aspects of the character that Heath was playing.”
Gilliam said, “I am grateful to Johnny, Colin and Jude for coming onboard, and to everyone else who has made it possible for us to finish the film.”
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus also stars Christopher Plummer, Verne Troyer, Andrew Garfield, Lily Cole and Tom Waits.
I just think this is brilliant. Yes, it sucks that Heath died, but the way they are moving forward with it could make this movie into something it had no chance of being before.
When people die, we often wonder what good came from it…and a lot of the time we have to look pretty hard, but I think this could be one of those times.
I think you make a really good point. This movie may or may not have been a hit had Ledger lived, but with the way they’re doing it now, it will almost certainly be well watched and remembered for years to come.
I hope it actually is good. Can you imagine how disappointing it would be if the quality of the movie or story-telling wasn’t up to the task that inevitably it has now become…
That’s so true. It would be such a disappointment. Terry Gilliam’s a good filmmaker, though, so I’m hoping that it will turn out well.
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